This past weekend, I stood at the edge of the Pacific Ocean in Venice, California, with friends and my husband, taking turns throwing bread into the waves and saying aloud the things we’d like to let go of, patterns we’d like to leave in the old year, and forge ahead unencumbered in the new one. Between joggers and helicopter flyovers, Christopher reached his arm back, articulated a fundamental desire — “Not to give a hoot about the millions of little things that don’t matter!” — and he threw that burden into the waves.
Like most bad habits, this one bears repeating every year (or more often). Inspired by the beginning of the new school year and all the rushing around and stress it teases out of our brief summer pause, I share a post that reminds us to slow down, not lose sight of what’s important to each of us, and let the little things go.
I remember as a toddler dancing on the brown shag carpet in my family’s living room to “The Age of Aquarius” from Hair. My sister and I leaped and twirled and somersaulted, trying to sing along. “When the mooooooon is in the seventh house, and Jupiter aligns with Mars…” None of it made sense to us, but we danced and sang with abandon. My mom recalls even earlier, my sister in her playpen bouncing up and down on her toes, learning to balance to the “dawning of the Age of Aquarius, Age of Aquarius, Aquarius!”
Yet it was not until two weeks ago that I finally saw the musical Haironstage. The music is stored in my DNA, so when the full sound emerged onstage at the Pantages Theatre, my heart soared. The music is as funky and uplifting and challenging as ever. And the central issues of…
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Laura Nicole Diamond 
“Not to give a hoot about the millions of things that don’t matter” comes with age, but it’s nice to know that you young folks recognize it’s efficacy!
And the challenge — and what makes each of us unique — is in how we decide what are those things that don’t matter. Luckily we are on the same page about those things, fifteen years into our journey.